Owners and managers of businesses such as Cooper- smith's think an on-campus stadium at CSU could boost businesses. / Madeline Novey/The Coloradoan

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Stadium coverage

Members of the Fort Collins business community have mixed feelings about Colorado State University’s proposed on-campus stadium that got marks of approval from the university’s president and governing board last week.

Some say a football stadium, if built on the south side of CSU’s campus, would have no effect on their sales. Others are worried that anticipated traffic congestion and an uptick in demand for downtown parking could hamper business on game days. Still others believe the potential 43,000-seat facility could be “great” for the local economy.

“I think it would definitely help our business,” said Griff Kull, owner and manager of The Rams Bookstore.

In his family since the 1970s, The Rams Bookstore is located at 130 W. Laurel St. By car, that’s about 1.3 miles from the proposed site of the new football stadium between Lake and Whitcomb streets.

Kull said the store is “busy” on game days, with Rams fans buying up green and gold sweatshirts, car flags and blankets. If built on campus, Kull believes the stadium would “increase” that type of commerce — for his and other businesses.

Before games, people from in and out of town may “get something to eat, do a little shopping and walk over to the stadium to the game,” Kull said. After, they might grab another bite to eat or a couple drinks, shop and make use of the city’s under-construction MAX, or bus rapid transit system running through the Mason Corridor.

Those at SuhSushi, located at 200 W. Prospect Road, don’t expect to see fewer or more customers — on game days or otherwise — as a result of the stadium’s construction. A boost in traffic on Prospect, which runs perpendicular to the proposed north-south orientation of the stadium, is all chef Nicholas Rivera anticipates.

Down the way, Melvin Johnson isn’t sure if or how a new stadium would effect his restaurant, Brother Mel’s BBQ.

“I don’t know what will happen,” he said last week, taking a break from eating lunch near the front of the store.

Johnson opened the barbecue joint in February 2008 at 111 W. Prospect Road at what he describes as a “destination” location. Motorists have to turn off an often-busy Prospect and into the shopping center, located at the corner of Prospect and College Avenue, to get to Brother Mel’s.

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A graduate student at CSU in the 1960s who remembers discussion about building Hughes Stadium, Johnson said businesses on Laurel Street would likely reap any potential benefits of a new stadium.

In the heart of Old Town, Coopersmith’s Pub & Brewing is busy — or not — depending on who the Rams play, manager Bridget Pasquino said. CSU’s home opener against North Dakota State drew out-of-town fans to the pub this year, she said, but added that “local traffic doesn’t typically increase” on home game days.

Pasquino thinks a new stadium “would be good” for businesses and the Old Town area in general but wonders whether her customers would face an increased fight to find parking.

A current proposal says that CSU potentially has about 13,500 parking spaces, available on campus property and in existing and proposed parking garages, according to a report included in the stadium feasibility report delivered in August to President Tony Frank. Potential off-campus parking spaces number between 13,500 and 17,000 — 11,000 are public and private spaces in downtown Fort Collins, while 1,000 to 2,500 are spaces associated with businesses closed on weekends.

Through his recommendation to move forward with the stadium project, Frank has taken the “appropriate approach” to combating the defunding of higher education, said Ned Sickle, general manager of The Hilton of Fort Collins, 425 W. Propect Road. “I think that’s the big elephant, if you will, in the middle of the room,” he said.

When asked how a new stadium could affect business at the Hilton, he said: “I don’t think it’s going to have any impact on us either way.

“We’re going to do very well, whether they put the stadium a block away or at Hughes.”

Rooms fill up now during home game weekends, Sickle said, and will likely continue to do so. If people park in the Hilton’s lot, it’s an issue he said they will address.

In the meantime, he encouraged those who oppose the stadium project for reasons such as parking, noise or pollution to come up with alternative methods to funnel money into CSU.

“We need to come up with solutions to provide a top-notch education to our students,” he said.